Well, that's one way to to get an studio audience...

[weaklink75]

France's version of Don't Forget The Lyrics resumed production of new episodes, and they had a somewhat....unique way of filling in their studio audience...

https://twitter.com/NOPLPoff/status/1259885935589818368

(for a show like that, it probably works- and it is one of the first GS that I know of that has restarted; quasi-GS Have You Been Paying Attention? in Australia has also restarted with the host in the studio and the comedian players at home with their buzzers shown on a video wall)

[Jeremy Nelson]

I actually like the creativity here; the balloon people solution is kinda charming, and definitely a better fix than the cardboard silhouettes on early American Gladiator episodes.

[jage]

Guess it all depends on the show. Something like Jeopardy could work with canned applause and wouldn't sound much different. Plenty of GSN shows were recorded without an audience. Not really a game show Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me is recording remotely, and while it works somewhat, there's a reason they moved to an all live audience format around 2003.

[Chief-O]

Guess it all depends on the show. Something like Jeopardy could work with canned applause and wouldn't sound much different.

Pretty sure I remember hearing about Vanna's "Wheel" guest-host shows being done without an audience. Taping J! under such conditions probably would be easier; they wouldn't have as much canned applause to add afterwards, and it probably wouldn't affect the mood/energy in the studio as much.

[JasonA1]

Pretty sure I remember hearing about Vanna's "Wheel" guest-host shows being done without an audience.

Correct. And spot-on about J! being fine without one, or any current GSN show where the audience only sneaks in to wide shots.

I doubt this will happen, but I'd love if this whole situation tended producers & designers away from audience-heavy set concepts. By the time Kimmel's Millionaire hit the air, people were understanding and accepting, I think. But it should get people thinking twice about whether having a (paid) audience (sort of paying attention) on camera really adds anything.

-Jason

[BrandonFG]

It may be apples and oranges, but in the last 20 years, it feels more sitcoms are shot without a laugh track, to the point of where the "live studio audience" is kinda dated. I don't mind an audience, canned or otherwise, but I do enjoy shows that don't rely on the laugh track as a crutch and treat every punchline as if it's the funniest thing in the world.

Back to the point, all the late night talk shows go without an audience for now, and it's like being a fly on the wall watching the interviews. I don't think it becomes the new normal, but it wouldn't be impossible for a game to go without even a canned audience. For example, Kimmelionaire's crew cheering adds just enough background noise. But, a 100% canned audience isn't unprecedented either (Woolery's Lingo, Temptation, and Merv Griffin's Crosswords all come to mind)

[TimK2003]

It may be apples and oranges, but in the last 20 years, it feels more sitcoms are shot without a laugh track, to the point of where the "live studio audience" is kinda dated. I don't mind an audience, canned or otherwise, but I do enjoy shows that don't rely on the laugh track as a crutch and treat every punchline as if it's the funniest thing in the world.

I was watching a few episodes of Barney Miller recently and read up that they only had a live audience for only a couple of their seasons -- the rest were laugh-tracked.  Of the canned audience seasons, they really relied on the laughs AND there was an above average amount of applause between scenes.

It is a delicate art to "sweetening" a show both with and without an actual audience.  Some game shows did it well, while others,....well, lets just say you can turn the NBC "Yee-Hoo" voice into a drinking game.

[jjman920]

Guess it all depends on the show. Something like Jeopardy could work with canned applause and wouldn't sound much different.

Pretty sure I remember hearing about Vanna's "Wheel" guest-host shows being done without an audience. Taping J! under such conditions probably would be easier; they wouldn't have as much canned applause to add afterwards, and it probably wouldn't affect the mood/energy in the studio as much.

We'll all be able to judge shortly. IIRC, the final few weeks of Jeopardy's season (which will start after the GOAT reruns) were filmed without an audience. Wheel's final two weeks of their season at the end of April were filmed without an audience. The telltale sign being the contestant supporters standing off to the side of stage instead of being seated in the audience.

[WilliamPorygon]

We'll all be able to judge shortly. IIRC, the final few weeks of Jeopardy's season (which will start after the GOAT reruns) were filmed without an audience. Wheel's final two weeks of their season at the end of April were filmed without an audience. The telltale sign being the contestant supporters standing off to the side of stage instead of being seated in the audience.

I don't know if they'll do any better on Jeopardy!, but I noticed the applause frequently seemed to stop unnaturally abruptly during the audience-less Wheel episodes last month.

[BillCullen1]

One show that managed to work without an audience was Hollywood Game Night. This past Tuesday (5/12), they aired a virtual episode with six celebs and no contestants. Money went to the red nose charity.